Foldable sectional door



1931- B. J. HAYMAN FOLDABLE SECTIONAL DOOR Filed Feb. 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Shee l IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov: 1931' UNITED sir-A harm I. aim, or mun, OKLAHOMA.

This invention relates to an improved foldable sectional door for garages and the like, where large door openings are required.

An object'of the invention is to provide a door oftheabove character which, when in open position, is folded into compact condition so as to utilize a minimum amount of space, and which, when so opened, is disposed inwardly of and above'the lintelof the door- I way in a substantially horizontal position so as to leave the entire door opening clear for its entire width and height, whereby noobstruction is presented by the door to move ,ment of an automobile or the like through the 18 doorway.

Anot er object of the invention" is to provide' a foldable sectional door of the a ove kind andmeans for opening and closing the same which are of relatively sim le construction not liable to get out of or or orto 'amb under conditions of use, and which may manufactured and installed at a relatively low cost. 7 7 Other objects will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, and the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the'accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings: 7 Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a door embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view thereof. a

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 33 of Fi re 1. F' ure 4 is an enlarge fragmenta horiwzonta section taken on line 4-4 of A igure 2; and I Figure 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates a wall of a garage or the like having a relatively'large. doorway defined by a door frame 6. The door of the present invention -ner side of and entirely a ove the lintel 9,

0mm sno'rronsn noon,

Application am: February as, 1080. Serial no. name.

includes an upper section 7 hinged at the top, as at 8, inwardly of and above the lintel 9 of the doorway to swing inwardly and upwardly ona horizontal axis to a horizontal osition above the plane of the lintel 9. A

urther door section 10 is connected at the top thereof to the bottom of the section 7 by hinges 11 so as to permit thetwo sections 7 and 10 to foldtogether along a horizontal axis with their front or outer faces adjacent and in substantially parallel relation. In a like manner, a still further door section 12 is connected at the top thereof with the bottom of the section 10 by hin es 13 so as to permit the two sections 10 an 12 to fold together along a horizontal axis with their rear or inner faces adjacent and in substantially parallel relation. Finally, a fourth or lower door section 14 is connected at the top thereof to the bottom of the section 12 by hinges 15 so as to permit the two sections 12 and 14 to fold together along a horizontal axis with their front or outer faces adjacent and in substantially parallel relation. The sec tions 7 and 10 and 12 and 14 are thus adapted to fold rearwardly or inwardly and outwardly in irs, the door being compactly folded with t e sections thereof in contiguous relation and in a horizontal osition at the inwhen the door is fully opened, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3. I Rigidly mounted inwardly of and adjacent each side of the doorway or frame 6 is a vertical metallic guide 16 having a channel whose open side extends toward the doorwa and the door. The door is of a width to a most fill the space between the guides 16 and, when closed, is disposed in almement with said ides and in a planeadjacent but reare5 ward y of the plane of the frame 6 of the doorway. One of the hinges 13 is located adjacenteach side edge of the door and has a bin e 10 provided with an outwardly and latera ly projecting end portion 17 carrying 90 vertical rectilinear path when the door sections are folded or unfolded inopening or closing the door. At the same time the'sections 10, 12 and 14 are permitted to freely.

swin aboutaxes coincident with the axes of the ms 17 and 19 to freely permit the desired rela ive swinging or folding movement of the door sections. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the guides 16 extend above the lintel 9 so as to permit compact folding of the door sections into contiguous relation above the plane of the lintel 9 as hereinbefore mentioned, and as shown by dotted llnes in Figure 3';

Suitable means is rovided to substantially counterbalance t e weight of the door and to simultaneousl exert a vertical lift on all sections thereo so that the door may be opened with the ex enditure of'a mimmum amount of manua efiort and automatically retained in open folded condition as wellas to revent sudden lowering or c osin of the oor. For accomplishing this res t, the said means may comprise a counterweight 21 disposed at each side'of and adjacent the upper part of the door when the latter is closed, and connected by a chain or cable 22 with the adjacent side of the door section 10 near the bottom thereof, the chain or cable 22 passing upwardly from the door section 10 over a s eave 23 suitably mounted above and adjacent the adjacent side of the door, and then to a point of connection with the counterweight 21. In a similar manner, a further counterweight 24 is disposed at each side of and adjacent the up er part of the door when the latter is closed, and connected through the medium of a further chain or cable 25 with the adjacent side of the next to the lower door section 12 near the bottom of the latter, the chain or cable 25 passin upwardly from the door section 12 over a urther sheave 26 suitably mounted beside and inwardly of the sheave 24 above the door, and thence to a point of connection with the counterweight 24.

Spring projected latch bolts 27 are carried by opposite sides of the upper and lower door sections 7 and 14 adjacent the joints between the sections 7 and 10 and 12 and 14, which latch bolts are ada ted to enter the channels of the guides 16 w on the door is closed and the sections thereof are disposed in a vertical plane, the latch bolts of each door section uide'. 16. Attached to the lower bein connected at their'inner endsby a chain '28 ,or simultaneous retraction or release upon exerting a pull upon such chain. The

free ends of the latch bolts are preferably beveled so as to permit them to automatically snap into the channels of the guides 16 when the door sections are fully unfolded and the door completely closed. Further, it is apparent that these latch bolts 27, being mounted on theinner sides of the respectlve door sections, will serve to effectively prevent breaking of the joints between the sections 7 and 10 and 12 and 14, thereby securely fastening the door inclosed condition and preventing opening thereof except from the interior of the with the door.

To open the door, it is first necessary to release the latch bolts 27 and then break the joints formed by the hinges 11 and 15. This is preferably done by, first pulling on' the garage or building equipped chain 28 connecting the latch bolts of the up w I per pair and then pulling upon the chain 28 connecting the latch bolts of the lower pair, whereby these joints are broken in the order mentioned simultaneously with release of the latch bolts adjacent said respective joints. More specifically, the very act of re leasing the latch bolts is utilized to simultaneously break the joint adjacent which such latch bolts are arranged: After releasing the latch bolts and breaking the joints at the hinges 11 and 15, the door is completely folded or opened by lifting upwardly on the lower door section 14, the latter having a central handle 29 near the bottom thereof for this purpose. Obviously, a reversal of this operation will result 1n completely closing and latching the door in closed position. The inner surface of the lower door section 14 being lowermost when the door is completely folded ioverhead, the handle 29 will be readily accessible for pulling downwardly on and unfolding the door sections in the door closingope'ration.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have provided a very simple and durable, as well as efficient construction for carrying out the contemplated objects of the invention. Minor chan es may be made without departing from -t e spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

' What I claim as new is:

A door comprising four hingedly connected door sections pivotally supported above the door opening so 'as to be folded above said openin in substantially horizontal position when t e door is in the fully open position guides at the sides of the door opening, guiding members carried bycertain of'said oor sections adjacent the hinge connections therebetween and engaging said guides, ulleys journaled above and at each side 0 the door 0 ening, flexible directly counterweighte members connected to opposite sides of the lowermost door section adjacent the top thereof and passin upwardly over certain of said pulleys, and rther se arately and direct y' counterweighted exible members connected to opposite sides of H next to the uppermost door section adjacent the bottom thereof and passing upwardly over other of said pulleys, whereby the weight of the door sections is sustained by the counterweighted flexible members at points both inwardly of and adjacent the door opening to prevent binding of said guiding members in said ides when the door is in any of its partia y or fully open positions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

BRYAN J. HAYMAN. 

